First published in 1922, ‘Siddhartha’ is an allegorical novel by Hermann Hesse, a German-Swiss novelist, poet, painter, and one of Germany's most influential writers and thinkers, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. The central theme of his work is the individual’s actions to break out of the established modes of civilization so as to find an essential spirit and identity. The book was written in German, in a simple, yet powerful and lyrical style. The story deals with the spiritual journey of an Indian boy called Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha. The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the Sanskrit language, Siddha (achieved) artha (what was searched for), which together means “He who has found meaning (of existence)”. It is one of the great philosophical novels. A profoundly insightful and beautifully written story that begins as Siddhartha, son of an Indian Brahmin, leaves his family and begins a lifelong journey towards Enlightenment. On his way, Siddhartha soon becomes agitated and discards it for pleasures of the flesh. He is quickly bored and sickened by the unending lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, he comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life—the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and finally, wisdom. A beautiful account of the journey of a young man during the times of the great Gautama Buddha is not just an evocative piece of art but also a work of mystery offered to the reader to solve for himself.
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